Vol. 51: delighted to be here ft. Leonor Mamanna

Ciao! As I’m recovering from jet lag after spending the first week of my six week sabbatical exploring Italy, readers are in for a special treat: my very first newsletter takeover! In order to bring a more regular newsletter to you, dear reader, and challenge my own creativity, I’m going to start featuring the occasional guest writer. I can think of no better person to kick this off than Leonor Mamanna of Leave it to Leonor, AKA my newsletter bestie. Leonor’s creative inspiration has constantly influenced this newsletter, and it’s her use of takeovers over the summer that inspired me to blatantly copy her. :) I hope you enjoy her words and be sure to subscribe to Leave it to Leonor!

Hello! I am thrilled to be covering for Allison while she is on vacation and I only hope to live up to her takeover of my newsletter, where she so beautifully wrote about the evolution of friendship. 

Last week, for my newsletter, Leave it to Leonor, inspired by Ross Gay’s Book of Delights, I shared a list of things that delighted me while I was on summer break. Here is the second half of that list: 

Talking to strangers has never really been my thing, but recently at a very cute breakfast spot a trio of older ladies struck up a conversation. We exchanged general pleasantries and chatted about the area. One of them was new to the area and to their retirement community, and they were showing her all their favorite spots. Then I asked how long the other two ladies knew each other and they beamed to say they'd been together for decades and were among the first to be married in Massachusetts when gay marriage passed in 2004. The chattier of the two of them mentioned that they were featured in an HBO documentary, but the name escaped me, so now I will watch every doc on the topic until I find them. There are worse ways to pass the time. 

This twitter thread about my late, great tripod Stella.

Stella Catfish

Last year for my birthday, I had a blowout party of epic proportions. The food, the people, the dancing, all of it was perfect. It meant that when I started thinking about a party for this year, I was unexcited. For people who know me, this is deeply concerning. I start planning my parties in June (for reference: my birthday is in late August). A brilliant friend from my coven, Sivan, suggested a picnic. I'd considered picnics in other years, but never committed for a variety of reasons (bathrooms, weather, bugs), but this year, those things didn't feel like obstacles. The weather was perfect and there was wayyyy too much food and the most insanely perfect potato chips and new friends meeting old friends and my 3-year-old leading everyone into a dance party at the end of the evening. 

After dinner with a dear friend who I've known since we were both in our 20's, we wandered the streets of the East Village searching for ice cream and found a little bench in front of a flower shop which was clearly instagram bait. We sat and people watched marveling at how young everyone seemed. Were we ever so young, we asked each other, laughing. We were officially those "old" people, but it was nice to sit with a friend who has seen you through the various phases of your life and joke about how much (or how little) has changed. 

We have no childcare for three weeks before school starts - this is not delightful. We manage to cobble together coverage for most days with grandmas and aunties and flexibility, and we are lucky to have all those things, but it is still chaos and has upended our rhythm - this is not delightful. One day, it’s just me, my girl, and work; deadlines, meetings, and emails, oh so many emails - this is not delightful. I'm getting there, I promise. After the approximately 27th interruption for something in a 30 minute span, a lightbulb goes on over my head - a fort. I ask her to stand aside, I pull chairs from around the apartment, snag the pile of blankets next to the couch and her blankets from her room. I pull out all the pillows, her fave stuffies, her water and some snacks and boom! DELIGHTFUL. She went in and emerged every 30 minutes for a new snack or to get something else from her room.

Zuri aka Mamiche in her fort 

For the first half of the list of delights, subscribe here. 

Books, books, books

• Recent reads: I recently read and loved Brown Girls by Daphne Palasi Andreades. I thought the prose was stunning, the weaving in of different narratives, the authenticity. 

• Currently reading: Very excited to dig into Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm by Laura Warwell

• Backlist book rec: Earlier this year I read The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova, an Ecuadorian family drama with beautiful elements of magic realism. I highly recommend it. 

• TBR alert: I am trying to make a solid dent in my physical pile before the end of the year and right now I am eying a copy of Breasts and Eggs that I picked up and put down a few times. 

Small Business Corner

A dear friend of mine from high school started an athleisure wear company with the best name, Neon Warwick, the boldest prints, and the comfiest gear. I absolutely live in these joggers which I have started considering a neutral because why not? 

Community Care

In exchange for this free newsletter, please consider giving $5 - 7 to these causes listed below!

Taller Salud, a grassroots feminist organization that has been putting in the work in Puerto Rico, which can use your support post-Hurricane Fiona. 

Drag Queen Story Hour, a truly delightful organization which is under constant attack by small-minded bigots.  

Self Care Corner

I believe pretty strongly that you should try as much and as best as you can to build a life that doesn’t require huge shifts in order to care for yourself. THAT SAID, here are some things I really love doing for myself as “self care”: 

• adult lunchables aka charcuterie for one 

• a house cardigan for cozy evenings 

• reading before bed, bonus if it’s poetry 

• when a friend crosses your mind, or something reminds you of them, reach out. It has the double benefit of making you both feel warm and fuzzy. 

Thanks so much for reading and thank you again to Allison for entrusting me with your newsletter. 

You can subscribe to my newsletter, Leave it to Leonor, here, and follow me on IG here. 

me, and the wolves inside me, 

Leonor